Judge Blocks “PERSONHOOD” Law – A Controversial Ruling!
(TheRedWire.com) – Arizona’s Republican Gov. Doug Ducey signed an abortion bill into law in 2021 prohibiting the procedure unless the pregnancy threatened the mother’s life. The measure also granted civil rights to fetuses by affirming their “personhood.” On Monday, July 11, a federal district judge blocked the law, ruling the word “personhood” was too vague.
US District Court Judge Douglas Rayes said a law couldn’t stand if ordinary people couldn’t figure out how to comply with it. Some critics might argue under that standard, the courts should throw out many statutes. Additionally, the judge seemed concerned the law granting an unborn baby the same rights as anyone else could cause a reinterpretation of abortion as a homicide.
A federal judge Monday blocked an Arizona law recognizing the civil rights of unborn children, calling the law “unconstitutionally vague.” https://t.co/H6HaHTm4d9
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) July 13, 2022
The judge also noted that if a woman sought an abortion, the law could violate her due process rights because it’s unclear whether the statute uses “personhood” as a legal term applied to the unborn. Still, the judge applied his reasoning despite Arizona Solicitor Kate Sawyer telling the court the “personhood” law wasn’t applicable to women who received the procedure, only the medical personnel performing it.
So, did Judge Rayes dodge or delay the Supreme Court’s ruling by playing at semantics, or was he right to demand more clarity in the law’s wording?
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